Escaping History
by SpriteDF
Summary: A bounty hunter named Alex Denisen is reported to have force powers and causes the Jedi Council to go on a full-fledged investigation to find out how this man thrives in neither the light nor dark side. However, the Clone War provides many complications that slow down the Jedi's search for knowledge. There are currently four chapters, but eventually, there will be 12.
1. Chapter I

**Chapter I**

The Black Rogue has just come out of hyperspace. It is a sleek, black, stealth ship stolen from an unlucky person in the galaxy. As it enters the atmosphere of Christophsis, the first lasers appear, for down on the surface, a giant battle rages between clones and droids. Alex Denisen must make a stop for fuel before heading to Tatooine for a new assignment. Unfortunately for him, a peaceful landing will have to wait.

Denisen finds a skyscraper with a landing platform overlooking the terror below. However, as he goes in low for a stop, lasers appear from his destination firing away at the Black Rogue, forcing Denisen to eject from his spacecraft and freefall to the ground.

WHISH! His jetpack boots are active to slow his fall and get him to a safe point out of the crossfire. Denisen spots many fuel cells on either side of the battlefield, most likely being used for artillery cannons.

PEW! PEW! PEW! Guns fire from both sides as the Republic makes an advance, and two figures are spotted at the lead with glowing swords of light. Denisen decides to intervene with some detonators. The bombs explode at the feet of the light warriors, but somehow, they avoided it, jumping at least twenty feet into the air! It is then that Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker and his apprentice Ahsoka Tano turn to a new opponent on the battlefield.

Immediately, Denisen shows a blaster and rapidly fires at the Jedi, but it amasses to almost no effect at all.

"Ahsoka, flank him from up high!" yelled Anakin.

Ahsoka began jumping on top of droids, slicing them in half as she leaves them. It doesn't take long for her to reach a wall above Denisen. This causes Denisen to activate his jetpack boots again after dropping smoke bombs.

"Master, I can't see anything!" screamed Ahsoka.

"It's okay Snips, just let your senses fill you."

_These warriors are Jedi,_ thought Denisen. _Looks like they're in for a surprise!_ Rockets came out of nowhere and blasted Ahsoka off her feet. PEW! PEW! Her lightsaber was knocked right out of her hands. The smoke cleared, but Denisen was nowhere to be seen.

"General Skywalker…"

"REX! Help me find my padawan!" ordered Anakin.

"Sir, yes sir! You there! Take Echo and start a search party for Commander Tano!" answered Rex.

Echo and Fives had only taken a few advances past the spot where Ahsoka was when they were killed by more lasers.

"AH!" Fives screamed in pain.

"Come on, men! Enemy clankers incoming!" shouted Rex. Anakin leads the fight slashing left and right to get droids out of his way. TING! Another laser was deflected by his lightsaber.

"GO, GO, GO!" Clones and droids continue fall time after time, shot after shot, and explosion after explosion. They had completely wrecked the city that served as their battlefield.

…

Ahsoka clashes lightsabers with Denisen again. TSS! Striking high, Denisen immediately changes his grip on the handle to make a sweep at Ahsoka's legs.

"Are you a Jedi or something?!" yelled Ahoska. However, she got no response in return; Denisen dove underneath her and injected a serum into her leg that left her unconscious for the next 15 minutes. Then, he ran off towards the Separatist base looking for fuel cells. The battle droids that opposed merely slowed him down as he accelerated using the force to destroy anyone in his way with his defiant blue lightsaber.

WOOM! WOOM! WOOM! WOOM! WOOM! Two AATs showed themselves to stop Denisen from entering behind Separatist lines. It fired its main cannon several times while Denisen ran zigzagged up towards the first one. He used the force to open the pilot's hatch and crushed the droid before ejecting it outside of the tank.

After Denisen hopped in the cockpit, he swiveled around to take aim at the second AAT. He was about to fire when a strange cyborg propelled itself out of the cockpit and launched himself straight at Denisen's AAT. The cyborg drew four lightsabers and instantly cut a giant hole in the engine.

Denisen jumped out while it exploded, only to find himself staring up at an ugly alien protected by numerous plates of armor that appeared to be the majority of his body.

"I am General Grievous! Introduce yourself before I slaughter you!" Denisen didn't speak. "You fight with the force, but you are not a Jedi. SPEAK!" Denisen used the force to push Grievous into the air and several yards away from him.

"I am Alex Denisen, bounty hunter. I do not work for either side in this war."

"Ha, ha, ha! Then you shall be terminated!" Immediately, Grievous started wielding his four lightsabers rapidly in front of him more for intimidation than for actual strength. Denisen unleashed his flamethrower upon the egocentric general causing him to back away.

"Do not underestimate me, bounty hunter!" taunted Grievous. He lunged at Denisen, who sidestepped, causing Grievous to miss and scrape concrete. TSS! There was the first clash of lightsabers!

The general held off Denisen's one blade with his left two and struck with his right two. Thus, the bounty hunter flew up to the wall of the warehouse and set a few charges. Grievous fell for the trap by ordering his droids to fire at Denisen. One of the supers hit a charge which caused the entire front wall of the five-story warehouse to crumble before them.

"GAH! It isn't over yet!" screamed the general. After he shot two rockets that Grievous avoided, Denisen jumped on Grievous, slicing his right two sabers in half by the hilt. They clashed some more, but then, Grievous took a huge offensive and knocked Denisen off his feet. Denisen kicked a foot up which was grabbed by Grievous. He was flung a good fifteen yards or so, but Grievous wasn't done. He picked him up again; however, Denisen activated an electric shock which temporarily paralyzed Grievous.

Denisen ran into the warehouse, where he met two destroyer droids. He jumped up off of reflexes and dropped two thermal detonators to destroy the opposing droids. Now, he just had fuel cells to deal with.

…

Denisen used the force to levitate a giant cylinder of fuel for the Black Rogue.

"R-4, bring the ship outside the warehouse at these coordinates," said Denisen as he pressed a button on his armor.

"Bleep, bloop, bleep!" answered his astromech.

Within minutes, the ship was heard behind the five-story building, followed by the sound of metal parts being blown apart by cannons. Denisen walked towards the back while carrying the fuel cell and brought it inside the ship. He opened the fuel compartment and removed the used cylinder, replacing it with the reimbursed one.

"That should do it, R-4. Take us off to Tatooine." The Black Rogue lifted off the ground and shot up into the atmosphere, dropping a single bomb on the city below to cause havoc. Denisen didn't want to be spotted. Luckily enough, there were no other ships surrounding the system, allowing Denisen to jump straight to hyperspace.

…

Down on the battlefield, the Republic had finally overwhelmed the CIS, causing general Grievous to flee the battlefield, relocating himself to another portion of the planet.

"Alright, I want everyone looking for my padawan now that the fight's over!" ordered Anakin. "Let's go!" Clone patrols went out in every direction until Echo spoke up.

"Here you are, General." He was helping over an exhausted Ahoska to greet her master.

"Hey there, Master. Did I miss much?"

"You always find a way," replied Anakin. "Wait, everyone take cover!"

BOOM! BOOM!

"Sir, that explosive came from above us, but there are no enemy units in our position," reported Rex.

"That's alright," answered the general. "Rex, you and the men get some rest. Ahsoka and I are going back to the temple to give a report to master Yoda."

"Thank you, sir."

…

"Greetings, General Skywalker. Some news you have for us, do you?" questioned Yoda.

"Yes, Master." Anakin bowed. "We've come to report a strange warrior with many weapons, including the lightsaber and the force."

"Perhaps this is a bounty hunter," said Mace Windu.

"Actually, the warrior was firing at both factions, eventually going on towards the Separatist base," said Ahsoka. "I saw a big explosion that caused the front of their warehouse to crumble, which meant he was probably after something."

"All the Separatists had in there were fuel cells and weaponry, and I don't think they have some new toy we haven't discovered," added Anakin.

"Right you are, both of you," replied Yoda. "Find this so-called 'bounty hunter,' we must. Discover his intentions, we will."

"You are dismissed," ordered Windu.


	2. Chapter II

**Chapter II**

"Master, I've been researching all of the force-sensitive non-Jedi above the age of fourteen, but no bounty hunters have shown up," said Ahoska.

"Well, that's something to consider, Snips," answered her master. "It looks like we'll have to send someone out into the galaxy to obtain new sources."  
"You know, Master, the Mandalorian terrorist group Deathwatch as some extremely skilled bounty hunters, and this man carried many of their weapons."

"You have a point there," said Anakin. "Perhaps we should send a Jedi to the Deathwatch camp. I'm just worried we can't trust them to put down their own weapons." _This is a very dangerous situation Ahoska and I could be in._ "Ahsoka, I'm going to the Jedi Council. Come with me."

…

"A proposition, you have, young Skywalker?" asked Yoda.

"Yes, Master," he answered. "We believe this bounty hunter may have come from a Mandalorian background, specifically Deathwatch."

"Hmmm. A wise choice, Skywalker has made," replied Yoda. Send Jedi Knight Aayla Secura, we will."

"She is currently on board "The Avenger" over Coruscant space," said Obi-Wan. "I can make contact with her after this meeting."

"That, you will do, Master Kenobi," order Windu. "In the meantime, Anakin, take your padawan to the library and conduct as much research as you can. A break from the battlefield may clear your minds some more."

"Yes, Master," said Anakin and Ahsoka in sync.

…

"Aayla, the Council has given you the task of traveling to Mandalore and negotiating some info out of Deathwatch," said Obi-Wan. "We need to know where this bounty hunter came from."

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"I will do what I can, Master, but a Separatist fleet has just entered Coruscant space territory!" replied Secura. She turned off the hologram.

"Admiral, form a line of ships blocking the enemy path!" ordered Secura. "I need to be able to reach hyperspace safely!"

"Will do, General!"

Secura sprinted to the main hangar, where she climbed into her blue Jedi star fighter. She released a hyperspace ring and took off into space. Quickly, she flew behind the main cruiser before enemy fighters could target her.

"R-3, lock us in these hyperspace coordinates! Let's go!" VROOM!

…

Secura exited hyperspace over the planet Mandalore and headed down the surface after dropping the hyperspace ring. She flew down past the capital city and into the outskirts. After a few minutes she reached an abandoned mine shaft signaling the presence of Deathwatch. That is where she chose to land.

"R-3, watch the ship while I do some investigations." Secura walked from her ship hidden by a long brown cloak the shielded her lightsabers from sight. She was walking towards was looked like an encampment when she heard the sound of jetpacks. As she looked around herself, five warriors in plated steel armor were holding guns at her position.

"I come meaning no harm," said Secura.

"Well, I'm sorry we don't share the same policies!" said one of the warriors. "Now put your hands up!"

Instantly, Secura drew her two lightsabers and was deflecting blaster fire before she had the chance to make the first move. PEW! PEW! PEW! Secura jumped high in the air, and destroyed all of their guns when she landed.

"Go plan B!" one of the warriors yelled. All five of them flew into the air spraying the flamethrowers at Secura.

"AH!" she screamed in pain, dropping her weapons. The warriors sent wires from their wrists to instantaneously tie her up, unable to move. She pushed them all back with the force, but she still couldn't get herself untangled.

"Take her laser swords," ordered one of the warriors. "It looks like we can negotiate with the Jedi!" They all started laughing. Then, they brought her to the biggest tent, where it was obvious their leader was dwelling. They then contacted the Jedi Council.

"Alright, Jedi, Listen up!" said the leader. "You'll owe us money if you want her back! She's one of yours, and she fights with two lightsabers."

"We sent her there to negotiate with you," said Obi-wan.

"Well, your missionary here failed, so what do you want?"

"We'd like to know about a bounty hunter roaming the galaxy with Jedi powers," said Obi-Wan. "He carries many of your weapons and a lightsaber."

"Oh. You're thinking of that teenager guy. His name is Denisen, but he's not one of us. Actually, we met him through chance on the planet Rhen Var, and he destroyed many of us."

"Thank you for the information. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my space battle against the Separatists. We will negotiate Secura afterwards." He closed the hologram. _I hope Anakin is having more success than I am._

…

Anakin and Ahsoka were in the library with Jocasta Nu after Obi-Wan told him about what happened on Mandalore. He decided to research "Denisen" before making any bold moves. As he searched on one of the data pads, he found some background history, but it was brief.

The screen displayed the words "Denisen, Alex." He tapped the "more info" button, and it displayed a short paragraph. Anakin read in his head, _Alex Denisen is a terrifying bounty hunter who is known for his quick timing of "getting in" and "getting out" in a matter of minutes. Home Planet: Unknown. Race: Human. Ship: The Black Rogue. Age: 15._

"There's nothing else," said Anakin.

"Master, according to this data, Denisen began existing two years ago," reported Ahsoka.

"That doesn't make any sense," replied Anakin. "I guess we have to find this guy if we want real answers. I'll alert Master Kenobi when he's available."


	3. Chapter III

**Chapter III**

"Fire all batteries!" BOOM! BOOM! The Republic cruiser was damaged severely by General Grievous' command ship. Their heavy cannons pierced right through the hull of Obi-Wan's ship, "The Avenger."

"Alright, Admiral, it looks like it's my turn to join the fight," said Obi-Wan as he left for the hangar.

"I wish you good luck, General," answered the admiral.

Obi-Wan made his way down to one of the side hangars, where his red Jedi star fighter was awaiting him. He climbed into the cockpit and put on his headset. Then, he lifted off the floor and shot out into the battlefield.

"Shadow Squadron, this is General Kenobi! Can you hear me?!" shouted Obi-Wan.

"This is Shadow 2, General," answered a pilot. "Shadow Leader was shot down earlier in the battle."

"That's alright; I'll take the commanding from here!" said Obi-Wan. He led his squadron straight towards Grievous' command ship.

"Alright, men, here's the plan! We're going to stay on course towards that command ship to knock out the bridge at all costs!" shouted Obi-Wan. "Is that clear?!"

"Sir, there's vultures crawling all over that ship! There's no way we're getting past!"

"THAT IS AN ORDER!" commanded Obi-Wan. Moments later, the enemy vulture droids caught on to the fact that an entire squad of 15 fighters was charging the command ship.

PEW! PEW! PEW! The vultures shot down a few clones but were caught behind the rush, unable to help the remaining defenders. Obi-Wan started targeting droids one by one, shooting them down with his laser guns.

…

"Agh!" screamed Grievous. "Send out the buzz droids immediately!" After sending off the droids, he contacted the commander droids on the other cruisers.

"Target all firepower on that capital ship!" he ordered while pointing to "The Avenger." "I will deal with Kenobi myself!" Grievous made his way to the main hangar and prepared himself for Obi-Wan's arrival. He brought 5 destroyer droids along with him as a backup plan.

…

Another clone was shot down by enemy droids when the enemy vultures pulled off course.

"Alright, it looks like we're clear to make a straight path to the hangar," said Obi-Wan.

"Sir, I thought we were targeting the bridge," said Shadow 3.

"Change of plans. Grievous is waiting for me in the hangar," said Obi-Wan. All of a sudden, a clone pilot yelled over the com system.

"Buzz droids!" A giant swarm of midget droids about one foot high landed on the Shadow Squadron ships, but Obi-Wan was able to swerve low and miss them.

"Go, General!" shouted a pilot. "Don't worry about…!" He was cut off has a buzz droids broke open the windshield, causing the pilot to be sucked into space. Obi-Wan pushed the throttle to full power and caught Grievous in surprise when he crashed into the hangar. He jumped out of the cockpit right before his fighter smashed against the side of the wall and ignited his lightsaber.

Grievous drew two light sabers and attacked Obi-Wan ruthlessly with brutal strength. After a couple clashes, Obi-Wan pushed Grievous across the hangar with the force and rushed into the first corridor he could find.

"GO!" Grievous order the droidekas. "Follow him!" However, Obi-Wan shut the door behind him and welded it shut with his lightsaber. He then put his weapon away and ran towards the bridge.

Grievous began cutting through the door with his lightsabers. He moved his lightsabers into the formation of a circle and then kicked it twenty feet forward. Then, he started sprinting towards the bridge.

Of course, Obi-Wan beat him to it, so he sliced up all of the droid pilots, deflecting a few laser blasts and sending them back to their origin. After they were all destroyed he activated a five minute self-destruct sequence, so he could have enough time to make it to any escape pod. When he opened the door, however, Grievous blocked his path away from the bridge.

"Going somewhere, Kenobi?" Grievous taunted. He lunged at Obi-Wan with four lightsabers drawn, but Obi-Wan merely sidestepped him and sprinted to the escape pods.

"Get back here, coward!" shouted Grievous, but his voice became muffled after the door shut behind Obi-Wan. "Agh!" Instead of heading towards the escape pods in Obi-Wan's pursuit, Grievous ran to his personal fighter in the secondary hangar, launching himself from the ship and retreating back to a Separatist owned system.

Obi-Wan got in an escape pod and launched out towards "The Avenger." He was about halfway there when the entire ship exploded behind him. Almost instantaneously as if it was a chain reaction, "The Avenger" blew up into flames from the Separatist fleet. This caused Obi-Wan to change his course down to the surface below. As he neared the surface, he witnessed the Separatist fleet retreating to follow their fleeing general.

Obi-Wan landed outside the temple to be greeted by Master Windu.

"Good to see your mission was a success, Master Kenobi," commented Windu.

"Unfortunately, it came with great losses as well," he answered.

"I'm sorry, but there is no time to mourn," said Windu. "The Council has already assigned you your next mission. You are to go to Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine and seek his guidance on this bounty hunter. By the way, we found his name to be Alex Denisen. Oh, and tell him we are requesting his mercenary services."

"What?!" questioned Obi-Wan. "How can we trust this man?"

"We can't, but most bounty hunters keep their word if they get paid," answered Windu. "He could be used to help us rescue Secura.

"Yes, Master."

…

Obi-Wan took his Jedi star fighter into orbit around Coruscant, where his picked up a hyperspace ring. His R-4 droid activated the coordinates for Tatooine, so he shot off into hyperspace.

As he came into orbit around Tatooine after a short flight, he inputted coordinates for Jabba's Palace. He ejected the hyperspace ring and flew down to the surface. After he came close to the ground, he soared across the surface until coming upon a monastery complex that belonged to Jabba the Hutt.

"R-4, stay with the ship," said Obi-Wan. "I shouldn't be long, but I am dealing with a hutt." He jumped out of his fighter and walked towards the main entrance with his cloak draped over his robes. Then, he knocked on the gate. With a loud screeching noise, the rusty gate opened and allowed Obi-Wan entrance into the dark palace.

A protocol droid approached the Jedi and spoke.

"The mighty Jabba has been expecting the presence of a Jedi."

"I won't keep him waiting," replied Obi-Wan. The droid led him through series of passageways. At the end of the hallway they were in, a "throne room" awaited Obi-Wan with Jabba the Hutt lying on a bench that happened to be his throne.

"Chut chut, Kenobi," said Jabba. "Kee chai chai cun kuta?"

"The great and mighty Jabba welcomes you to his palace and wants to know why you have come?" the droid translated.

"I wish to know about a bounty hunter," said Obi-Wan. "Perhaps you know of a man, or a boy I should say, named Alex Denisen."

"Oh!" said Jabba. He whispered something to his protocol droid.

"The great and powerful Jabba has heard of such a bounty hunter, but has not hired him due to his age disadvantage."

"Then you have made the grave mistake of underestimating this boy, Jabba," said Obi-Wan. "This "boy" has destroyed an entire Separatist ground army and most of a Republic army, stunned General Grievous into paralysis, and blown up a Separatist warehouse. This bounty hunter is very dangerous to the galaxy, which is why I must find him."

"Humph," said Jabba. He whispered again to his droid.

"The great and powerful Jabba recommends you start in Mos Eisley, but that he could be anywhere in the galaxy." Jabba then whispered one more thing.

"Jabba has also said that he will take care of him should he dare invade this palace," said the droid.

"Then may the force be with you, Jabba," said Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan left the same way he came and went back to his ship. He jumped in the cockpit and flew over to Mos Eisley and landed in a spaceport in the outlying portions of the city.

First, he decided to check the major cantina right in the heart of Mos Eisley, where you can find all kinds of smugglers, bounty hunters, and regular thugs. Obi-Wan walked in with his cloak drawn low.

"Care for a drink?" asked the bartender.

"I think I'll pass," replied Obi-Wan. He walked through the place, inspecting every character while looking for the shiny black armor of Denisen. He started to walk out of the cantina when he was approached by an alien of some sort.

"You're looking for someone," he said.

"I'd prefer being left alone right now," answered Obi-Wan.

"Who is it?" asked the mysterious being.

"I'm looking for a bounty hunter, but not just any bounty hunter," said Obi-Wan. "I'm looking for one with the power to do everything necessary in a short period of time."

"Ah, ha, ha," he chuckled. "You must be thinking of that kid, the young boy. Now what was his name? Denisen, yes."

"You know of him?" asked Obi-Wan.

"Yeah, I've heard of him. Check the cantina outside of the spaceport on the outskirts of this city."

"My thanks," said Obi-Wan.

"Good luck, ha, ha," said the alien. "I've heard he isn't very negotiable." With that, Obi-Wan took off en route to his fighter, where he should find a cantina. As he sprinted down the streets, he got many strange stares, but arrived just in time as he saw the Black Rogue docked on the other side of the cantina. He rushed inside only to see someone run out the back exit.

"You there!" yelled Obi-Wan. He started panting while running after the figure.

The figure stopped, and turned around. Alex Denisen showed his face with a look of determination marked all over it. Obi-Wan stood for a moment, paralyzed in his thoughts. Denisen was much younger than he expected from someone of his fighting caliber. Then, Denisen took advantage of the moment to attack.


	4. Chapter IV

**Chapter IV**

"Alright, men!" shouted the Deathwatch leader. "Today, we are going to fight not only for our freedom, but for Mandalore's freedom!"

"You won't get away with this," said Secura.

"Really? It seems that I'm about to," he replied with a few chuckles. "Alright, we're going to sweep in and fly _directly_ towards the throne room. I don't want any distractions! Is this understood?!"

"Yeah, we got it," replied a soldier. The Deathwatch was dismissed to go put on their armor and acquire their weapons. Their leader grabbed his weaponry, which consisted of an E-33 blaster, a grappling hook, a jetpack, jetpack rockets, wrist rockets, a flamethrower, and his dark magic sword.

"Chuck, stay here and make sure the prisoner doesn't escape," ordered the leader. "As for the rest of us, we're moving out! For Mandalore!" Immediately, all of the soldiers activated their jetpacks and flew off the ground into the sky, followed by a bunch of cheers. Then, they shot off for the capitol.

…

The capitol of Mandalore had citizens walking about on a bright, sunny day. The park was open, where small children ran chasing after each other while the adults socialized.

"Mama, look up there," pointed a little boy. "It's a spaceship!" His mother laughed and looked up, but when she saw the sight, her expression changed to instant worry.

"That's no ship, son," answered his mother. The citizens heard the roar of the jetpacks as Deathwatch swarmed over the city, heading straight towards the capital building. After the leader gave a signal, three soldiers flew off to the right and dropped detonators at key points of a building, causing it to topple over and explode.

"Good work," said the leader. "We're almost there." They flew until a balcony was is sight. There, they landed and began to sprint inside the skyscraper.

A man was speaking to the duchess when the Deathwatch landed on the balcony.

"My lady, it appears…" he said before the storming of the soldiers broke him off.

"The city is ours now!" demanded the leader. One guard stood up and shot at him, but he missed. By command, the soldiers began shooting at all of the guards, taking them one by one. Two guards tried running towards the exit, but one of the Deathwatch shot two wrist rockets which blew them to bits. BOOM! BOOM!

In the corner, Duchess Satine sent a distress signal to Coruscant where she hoped the Republic would answer. Then, the soldiers grabbed her by the arms and dragged her away to the prison.

"You won't get away with this!" she shouted.

"Yeah, that's what the last one said," answered a soldier with a chuckle. The leader ordered all remaining guards to surrender with their hands up. The only three left did, but they were shot down immediately after doing so.

"Take her away, and make sure she doesn't come into contact with any outside sources," ordered the leader. Satine was taken to a cell and left alone; the soldiers went back to the capital building.

…

Back on Coruscant, the Jedi Council received the distress call from Mandalore. It contained a hologram of Duchess Satine which spoke. Master Windu activated it for the rest of the council to hear.

"My world has been taken over by the Deathwatch terrorists. My guards are dead and my people in shock. I beg you to please help us eliminate Deathwatch before it's too…"

"Alright, get over here!" said a new voice.

"You won't get away with this!" she shouted.

"Yeah, that's what the last one said." The hologram ended. There was a moment of silence and reflection amongst the masters until Yoda spoke.

"A tragedy, there is on Mandalore," he said. "Aid them, will we?"

"It seems very risky to get involved in something like this which is at a local scale," added Ki-Adi Mundi.

"All very true, but this organization could grow and spread to other worlds," said Windu. "The first question is, should we alert the Chancellor of this situation?"

"Disagree, I do," replied Yoda. "Send support, I suggest. However, from the temple, shall our help come, not the Republic."

"With all due respect, Master Mundi, we can't forget that Aayla Secura has taken much too long "negotiating" with this same terrorist group," said Shaak Ti. "Something went wrong, and we must send more Jedi to investigate."

"I understand where you're getting, Shaak Ti, but we've already sent Master Kenobi out as well to find Denisen," answered Windu. "As far as we know, he could be held captive right as we speak."

"Hmmm." There was another moment of silence. Then Mace Windu spoke.

"In my eyes, we have to rely on Kenobi to get us that bounty hunter," he said. "If he and Kenobi both went to Mandalore, perhaps they could settle a few things and rescue Secura."

"A wise plan, you have, Master Windu," said Yoda. "A difficult lesson, patience is to learn. In these times, one of the most important traits, it is."

"Shall we contact Deathwatch and see if we can reason with them?" asked Mundi.

"It is unlikely that they will be any less hostile, but it is worth a try," answered Windu. Shaak Ti took the projector in the middle of the room and contacted the Mandalore capitol, which is where Deathwatch should be.

"Hello?" answered the leader. He took a moment to look around at his listeners. "Oh, don't tell me it's you Jedi again. I told you to stay out of this!"

"We're here to negotiate for the captured Jedi," said Windu.

"Well, I'm really sorry to hear that because I'm really not in the mood for negotiating," he replied. "Like I was saying, I don't want to risk you coming here and ruining our chances on Mandalore. Therefore, until things have been settled more, we request that your Jedi remain hostage a little while longer."

"This will not be dealt with lightly," said Windu. "Keep in mind that you are dealing with the Jedi Council, and we will send more of us if it means rescuing one of us. In your case, I would be more worried about us interfering with your coup d'état than just planning a rescue."

"So be it, Jedi. It didn't take us long to disable one of you. The question is not if we will disable you, but how long it will take." He then ended the hologram.

"Frustrating, this is, hmmm?" asked Yoda.

"You speak as if it's amusing," accused Windu. Yoda chuckled some more.

"Patience, Master Windu," said Yoda. "Something not even I have mastered, this is. Come, our time will."

"Then for Secura's sake, I hope you are right, Master," said Windu.


End file.
